Keisuke and Hudiemon were looking around the island. "Still no sign of Crusadermon." Keisuke muttered. "We're sure, she's here, right?"

"No doubt. While I can't pinpoint her exact location, Royal Knights have distinct data signatures." Hudiemon replied. "She's on this island somewhere."

"She's doing a good job hiding then."

TyrantKabuterimon scoffed. "It's one of the only things she can do right."

"I wonder…" MetalSeadramon said. "We have six Digimon here in a large group, it wouldn't be hard for her to sense us."

"Good point…" Hudiemon said. "Perhaps we should split up."

A Digimon with a scarf stepped forward. "I can take this guy and search on our own." He said pointing to a tall white and gold Digimon behind him.

"Alright, but if you find her, don't immediately engage. Try to signal the rest of us."

"Roger." The two Digimon left.

Keisuke put on his Digivice. "I'll try to hide my Digimon's data. That should make it harder to see us coming."

Hudiemon laughed. "You've really come a long way as both a hacker and a Digimon Tamer."

"It's thanks to you, Ryuji and Chitose."

"Speaking of them, how are they doing?"

"Well, Chitose's the same as ever. Still the sunny womanizer."

"Of course. And… my brother?"

Keisuke smiled. "You won't believe this. The change in reality brough his… your parents back."

Hudiemon gasped. "Mom and dad…?"

"Yeah. And Ryuji also just got a job at Kamishiro Enterprise. His folks are real proud."

"I see…" Hudiemon looked up at the human world in the sky. "Now that I think of it, mom and dad died in an accident while driving me to school. So, if I never existed in the human world… Mom… dad… brother… they don't remember me, do they?"

Keisuke sighed. "…I'm sorry Erika."

"No. It's fine. It might be for the best. As long as they're happy that's all that matters."

Keisuke thought about what he saw in Takumi's memories. How when Takumi, Nokia, and Yuuko remembered their past together that they agreed it was better they remembered both the good and the bad. "I wonder…" He looked ahead. "Hey, look over there!"

Sonic held up the keys and unlocked the vault holding the Blue Chaos Emerald. He pocketed the gem. "One down, six to go. Hope the others are finding Takumi's mental data alright."

"Hey, Sonic!" Keisuke waved as he and his friends walked towards the stone the vault was on.

Sonic jumped down to them. "Hey. Any luck finding Crusadermon?"

"None so far." PileVolcamon replied. "How are things on your end?"

"Just got the first Emerald. And I ran into Nokia earlier, she found part of Takumi's mental data."

"That's good news." TyrantKabuterimon nodded. "Once you get the rest of the Emeralds you can seal those rifts above us. And when we get Takumi back, we can go after then enemy."

Sage then appeared. "You have located the first Emerald."

"Sage…" Keisuke looked at her.

Hudeimon turned to her. "Oh, hey… Since you're here, I've been wanting to thank you."

"For what?" Sage asked.

"For looking after Keisuke while he was in this world."

Sage closed her eyes. "I don't deserve your gratitude. I was the one who brought him here, lied to him, and used him for my own goals." She looked at the hacker. "Keisuke… do you resent me for it?"

Keisuke put his hands in his pockets. "…No. I admit, part of me still feels shocked… deceived even. But even if he is a lying, world conquering madman… Eggman is still your father. So of course, you'll take his side and do anything to protect him."

"Keisuke…"

Hudiemon giggled. "That's just how this dork is, Sage. Grudges aren't his thing."

"By the way…" Sonic said. "You said Eggman was trapped in Cyber Space as well?"

"I had secured Doctor Eggman in Cyber Space to protect him from the impending destruction. I had hoped to keep out external variables as well." Sage looked at Sonic. "You and Takumi were not meant to come here."

"Yeah, I figured that out." Sonic replied. "I understand why you and Keisuke locked our friends in Cyber Cages and fought us."

Keisuke looked down sadly. "That wasn't how I wanted that to go. But if we didn't do something you would have kept taking Cyber Corruption while Takumi's mental data was being degraded by Bagramon's data. We had to do something. As for your friends… those cages also hid them from that monster and everything else here, so at least they were safe…"

Sonic nodded. "We weren't exactly going to leave the Titans or fallen Royal Knights alone, either. Especially given that Crusadermon encouraged us to destroy them while disguised as Takumi's future-seeing friend."

Hudiemon looked at Keisuke and Sage sternly folding her arms. "At the same time though you two can't deny that a lot of this probably could have been avoided if you had just straight up told Takumi and Sonic about the threat sealed away in Cyber Space."

Keisuke sighed. "Yeah." Sage looked down.

Sonic turned to Hudiemon. "Hey, I think Keisuke said it best. Him, me, Sage, Takumi, Eggman, Mirei, Kyoko, Crusadermon, we all share the blame for this. Either way it's too late for a "I'm sorry" from any of us. Better to focus on making things right."

"Can't argue with that." Hudiemon replied.

Sonic turned around and saw a giant golden bug-like robot. "And on that note, I think I found me my next gear!" He ran towards it.

"Come on, let's give him a hand!"

Keisuke nodded. "Right!"

Super Sonic aproached the Caterpillar, but it shrieked, and a purple object appeared above it as a red whirlwind blew Sonic onto the rails it created. Sonic grinded on two rails circling around the Caterpillar while dogging red and blue orbs. The Caterpillar shot a red laser, but Hudiemon flew in front of Sonic and blocked it with a barrier. "Sonic, try knocking the blue spheres at it!"

"Got it!" Sonic started steering into the blue orbs and they flew into the object above the Caterpillar taking pieces off.

"I knew it! Keisuke, break that object hovering over it!"

"Right!" Keisuke nodded running towards them. "MetalSeadramon!"

"River of Power!" One of his Digimon shot a blue laser that disintegrated the object. The Guardian ran away shooting red spheres, but Sonic evaded them as he aproached.

He used a Homing Attack then as he looped backwards for a Loop Kick, Hudiemon flew up next to him and charged at the Guardian with him. "Flying Kick!" The Catapillar started to tip.

"Knock it over!" Keisuke said.

PileVolcamon, ran at it. "Diamond Fist!" He punched the creature and it tipped onto its back. Sonic performed a Stomp on its unprotected belly.

"TryantKabuterimon, finish it off!" Keisuke yelled.

"Insect Nightmare!" Multiple insects flew out of TyrantKabuterimon's body as he circled around the Caterpillar and they divebombed the Guardian piercing through its metal body. It glowed red then exploded.

"That was… creepy." Sonic replied. "But it got the job done. You and your Digimon are a good team Keisuke. You remind me so much of Takumi."

"Oh…thanks." Keisuke scratched his head sheepishly. "I don't know if I'm as good as him but… I want to at least do my bit to help out. Even if it's just as a side character."

Sonic scoffed. "Side character? Please, I think you're capable of being so much more."

"Me?" Keisuke asked. "Please, I'm no hero like you and Takumi."

Sonic grinned and wagged his finger. "I wouldn't be so sure. What do you think it means to be a hero?"

"Huh? Well… I don't know really."

Sage teleported to them. "Hero" is varied expression. It's meaning depends on the opinion of the individual."

"True." Sonic nodded. "But I for one think being a hero means helping people in need. And when you showed us your memories, I found out that you helped a lot of people. And sure, in some cases you had a personal stake in the matter, but you stuck your neck out for what you thought was the right thing. Maybe you're not a hero in everyone's eyes, but who is? I once knew a guy back when we were at war with Eggman who was easily scared and didn't have much confidence. But with a little courage building he and I took back our world together. You're never born a hero. You're built into one."

"You saved the three of us from those hackers when we first met." TyrantKabuterimon said. "That alone makes you a hero to us."

Hudiemon smiled. "He's right. You, Ryuji and Chitose came to rescue me in EDEN. Even though things didn't end… quite the way you expected, I'll never forget what you risked for me. You'll always be a hero in my eyes."

Keisuke blushed looking away. "Th-thanks…"

Sonic smiled. "Nokia, Arata and Yuuko were all right. You are a lot like Takumi. You might not quite be much of a thinker like him. But you do have a heart like his."

Keisuke put his hands back in his pockets. "You know… after reading Takumi's mental data, I've been thinking about something."

"What's that?" MetalSeadramon asked.

"I met Kyoko before Takumi did. She needed help with something. When I next saw her, she told me she took on an assistant and said our encounter encouraged her to hire them. At the time I didn't know who it was…"

"Takumi, Aiba…" Sage replied.

"Also, reflecting on Takumi's experience… say Kyoko didn't find him after he lost his body to that Eater. If Date took him in, he would have met Matayoshi. He in turn would have tried to help Takumi find a way back to his body but would probably want to keep it a secret from the higher ups, or who knows what they'd do with him."

"True…" Hudiemon put a finger on her chin. "And if you wanted to look into digital maters covertly… a hacker team would be the best option for the job. And given how well he knows my brother and Chitose, Hudie would have easily been Matayoshi's first choice."

Keisuke looked up. "I think so too… so I've been wondering… what If I was the one Kyoko hired as her assistant, and Takumi was recruited into Hudie?"

Sonic folded his arms. "Huh, good question. Think maybe you'd have played his role in the story while he played yours?"

"Unlikely." Sage replied. "Even if their encounters were switched, they each have too many unique variables that would have affected their actions and choices in each other's situations."

Hudiemon nodded. "Right. Takumi would still have his half cyber body and still be connected to Nokia, Arata, Yuuko, and Yuugo through the events eight years ago and their encounters right before his mental data was separated from his body. Meanwhile Keisuke would still be looking for the one who hacked his EDEN account and K would have been focused on him."

"Exactly." Keisuke replied. "I wouldn't have done the same things Takumi did, and he wouldn't have done the same things I did. But… there's no doubting our lives would be very different. Heck for all we know if that were the case, I would have been sent by Crusadermon to help you Sonic, while Takumi worked with Sage to try and stop us. Or maybe all of us would have been working together from the beginning."

"If you wish to know the most probable outcome, I could run simulations on that scenario." Sage offered.

Keisuke smiled and shook his head. "Thanks Sage, but I think I'll pass. I've been spending enough time lingering on the past. It's time I started looking towards the future."

"Now you're talking." Sonic grinned. "Speaking of which…" He picked up a light blue Gear the Guardian dropped. "Okay…" He took out the Miles Electric. "Ah, there's a gate on the other side of the island! I better move. Thanks for the backup, guys!"

"Good luck!" Keisuke waved as Sonic left. Sonic dashed across the land until he found himself at the alter and put the Gear inside. He pressed his hand on it and went into Cyber Space.

Ryuji and Chitose were traversing through the dark area before them. "Still no sign of Yu or Yuugo." Chitose sighed. "Wish Sage told us we might end up getting separated."

"Yu…" Ryuji thought about what he went through in the last reality. "If he remembers what happened with him and Keisuke… I can't imagine what he's feeling right now…"

"Say, according to what Sage said it sounds like Keisuke knows about all this. Do you think she brought his memories back too when she met him or… maybe he knew the whole time."

"I don't know… But I'll ask him once we find him. First let's find a way out of here." Ryuji then saw a light. "What's that?"

"Hopefully a way out!" Chitose said. "I can't take this dank dump any longer! Let's go!"

The two walked into it and they were brought somewhere else. When the light died down, they were on a massive bridge. "This is… the Rainbow Bridge in Odaiba!" Ryuji said. "Why are we here?"

"Did we end up back in our world?" Chitose asked. "I thought Sage said we'd be in some kind of Cyber Space."

Ryuji thought on it. "No. We logged into EDEN, so our real bodies are in our world. Since we're EDEN Avatars now, we wouldn't be able to be in the real world. But if we were sent to some kind of Cyber Space like she said that would explain how our avatars could come here."

"I guess that makes sense… But why would a Cyber Space in another world look like Odaiba? Is this part of her simulation?" The two walked across the bridge. Then they stopped when they heard a growl. "…What was that?" Chitose asked.

Ryuji looked around. "No idea." The ground under their feet started to rumble. "What?!"

They looked around and then saw something rise out of the water. It was colossus. It had a blue body, a single eye on its forehead and purple tendrils dangling from it. "GAH! What the heck is that thing?!" Chitose yelled. "Why is Sage's Cyber Space turning into a Kaiju film?!"

Ryuji stared at it as it rose out of the water. "This presence… I felt it before…"

Chitose looked at him. "What do you mean?!"

Ryuji stared at it in horror. "Arcadiamon…"

"Arcadimon… you mean that Digimon that drove you nuts?! I thought Keisuke defeated it!"

Ryuji looked around. "That's right… this place is where…" They looked up as the monster roared.

Sonic ran down a highway pointing down then boosted through orange rings that took him to another road. After running around cars, he reached metal platforms that sprung him up to his goal. "Alright!" He caught a Red Star Ring as he fell into the portal.

Back on the island the scarfed Digimon and his larger companion were roaming the area. "Why do you hide Crusadermon?" the scarfed Digimon growled. "Show yourself and meet your end with honor! Hmm?" He noticed a glowing alter. "I sense something from here…" He walked over and looked up at it. "I see. This must be a Cyber Space Portal." He put his hand on it. "To think an ancient race could create something like this." Then something flashed into his mind. He gasped as he saw two men with a monster looming over them. "It…cannot be…! Ryuji!? Chitoste?!" His friend rushed over. "What are they doing here?! No, never mind that! We must help them!" He looked at the Gate and saw the glowing gear. "Perhaps…" He put his hand on it and glowed red before vanishing. The Digimon behind him immediately did the same and followed.

Sonic came out of the portal and set foot onto a bridge. "Wait… this isn't the island… am I still in Cyber Space?" He looked ahead and saw a giant monster hovering over the water under the bridge. "Whoa! What is that thing?! Wait…" He remembered when Keisuke showed him, Takumi, Tails, and Yuuko his memories. "Isn't that the monster Keisuke and Erika beat to save Ryuji?" He then looked ahead and saw two people on the bridge. "Hey… aren't they…!?"

Chitose shivered. "Uh… Sage? If you can hear me, I'd like to be out of this simulation now… Sage? Oh, great, Ryuji, what the heck do we do now?!"

Ryuji gritted his teeth. "I did this… I made Arcadiamon into this monster… and set him on my friends…"

"Ryuji, snap out of it!"

Arcadiamon's eye glowed and then shot a purple blast. Just before it could hit the boys a blue flash ran by and grabbed them by the back of their tops and ran behind a nearby abandoned car. Chitose laid there on the ground as he slowly processed. "What just…?" He looked up to see Sonic leaning against the vehicle they were hiding behind. "…Like this day wasn't weird enough already."

Ryuji looked at him. "A Digimon?"

"Nope. Hedgehog." Sonic replied. He heard Arcadiamon roar and looked back towards the beast. "Ryuji, Chitose, stay here."

"What? Wait!" Ryuji watched Sonic run off towards Arcadiamon.

"How does he know our names?" Chitose blinked.

"I don't know, but that little guy's going to get himself killed!"

When Arcadiamon saw the hedgehog approaching it shot purple beams from its eyes. Sonic maneuvered around them as he sped down the bridge. Arcadiamon's purple tendrils started extending and slithered under the bridge. "DYSTOPIA LANCES."

Sonic felt a rumble. "Whoa!" He sidestepped around them and came to a halt when he was in front of the target. "My turn." Sonic jumped off the bridge and started running up Arcadiamon's body. After a Homing Attack and a Stomp on the head, Arcadiamon roared blowing him away. Sonic caught one of the towers on the bridge before he could fall into the water. When he saw Arcadiamon's eye glow he jumped and grinded down the arche. Arcadiamon shot repeatedly and Sonic had to boost and jump around the lasers while grinding. Arcadiamon's eye glowed red and fired a larger beam straight at Sonic. The hedgehog gapped at the size and jumped down from the arch. When he landed Arcadiamon looked up and shot a red orb from its eye up that exploded and rained down red lights. Sonic started dodging franticly.

Ryuji and Chitose leaned against the car as explosions set off around them. "How in the world did Erika and Keisuke beat this thing!?" Chitose yelled.

"Erika managed to weaken it…" Ryuji gritted his teeth. "There's no way that "hedgehog" is going to beat him at full strength!"

The explosions sent cars and debris flying. Sonic chained a series of Homing Attacks on them and approached Arcadiamon again. This time he tried a Wild Rush attack but this time a blue dome appeared around Arcadiamon and he bounced off it. Arcadramon started shaking. "GOD MATRIX!"

"Gah!" Sonic rocketed himself to the ground before a giant blue explosion went off right over the bridge.

Ryuji and Chitose stayed down as the car they were hiding behind flew over their heads. "Yeah, you weren't joking." Chitose said. "That little blue dude doesn't stand a chance."

"Dang it…!" Ryuji stood up.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"I can't just do nothing. That monster is on the loose because of me. I don't care if this isn't real!"

"Dude!" Chitose stood up. "Did we both not just see this thing?! I don't know why it hasn't just torn this bridge apart yet!"

"Even still… I've had enough of making others fight my battles and put up with my mistakes! I can't just stay on the sidelines anymore!" Ryuji ran down the bridge.

"Ryuji!" Chitose hurried after him.

"DYSTOPIA LANCES." Arcadiamon's tendrils rose over the bridge and started coming down one by one. Sonic dodged as many as he could, but one knocked a bunch of rings out of him and hurdled him to the ground. Five more all angled to skewer him while he was on the ground, but Ryuji grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way.

"Whew. Thanks." Sonic said, getting up.

"Don't thank me yet." Ryuji replied looking at Arcadiamon.

Chitose caught up to them. "So, what's the plan here?"

"I was kinda hoping I could just hit this thing until it went down like Keisuke did, but this isn't gonna work that way without Erika's pet Eaters." Sonic sighed.

"Wait, you know Keisuke and Erika?!"

"Long story." Sonic replied before Arcadiamon roared at them. "Hopefully I'll live to tell it."

Another purple laser flew at the boys. "Ryuji!" Someone then flew in and blocked the attack with his metal right arm. He had a silver mask and grey and blue suit and a red scarf.

Ryuji gasped. "Justimon?! Is that you?!"

The Digimon looked at him. "You remember me?"

Red lasers fired into Arcadiamon from above. Everyone looked up and saw a white and gold golem with angel wings shooting red lasers from his eyes at Arcadiamon while descending towards the ground. "Shakkoumon!" Chitose gasped.

"Oh hey." Sonic waved. "Weren't you two looking for Crusadermon?"

"We were. Until we saw that odd gate." Justimon replied. "When I came in contact with it, I saw Ryuji and Chitose here, so we came in as quickly as we could. I assume this is the Cyber Space Keisuke spoke of." He looked at Ryuji and Chitose. "But what are you two doing here?"

"Some girl named Sage came to EDEN and told us we'd find Keisuke here."

"Sage brought you here?" Sonic asked.

A roar brought everyone's attention back to Arcadiamon. "We can finish this discussion later." Justimon said. "First we need to deal with this beast."

"Yeah, I feel a lot more confident that we can do it if you boys are here." Chitose grinned. He looked at Shakkoumon. "What do you say pal? Ready to raise havoc for old times sake?" Shakkoumon nodded. "Heh. Still silent, huh? Well, that's fine. It's just good to see you again. Missed ya buddy. Having you by my side makes me feel ready to take on anything!"

Shakkoumon started glowing. Gold wind blew around him and engulfed him like a blizzard. "What's going on with Chitose's Digimon?!" Sonic asked.

The winds died down and it took on a new form. A giant in white fur with a blond fur coat. He wore a Viking helmet and two round shields on his shoulders and carried on his back two spiked iron balls. "Shakkoumon Digivolved to Mega Level!" Justimon gasped.

The Digimon turned to his partner. "…Chitose."

"Sh-Shakkoumon! You can talk now?!" Chitose gasped.

"I am Vikemon. And on my new name I swear to bring you and Hudie victory!"

"Alrighty then! I got your back dude, so let's show that giant what's what!"

Sage then teleported in front of the group. "It will not be enough."

"Sage!" Sonic looked at her.

"Even with his fully evolved Digimon Keisuke could not overpower Arcadiamon on his own. However, this Arcadiamon was likely formed from Cyber Space." She floated upwards until she was the same height as Arcadiamon's head and held her hands forward. "Accessing Data… Beginning Digitalization…" Multiple white orbs with eyes appeared around her.

Chitose's eyes widened. "Wait, aren't those-

Sage threw her hands forward and the replicated Eater Bits flew towards Arcadiamon. The barrier appeared but with effort they pushed through and soon stuck onto Arcadiamon's body, and they all made explosions on it. Sage swung her arm and deleted the Eaters as Arcadiamon howled in pain and its body started to slump. "Nice move Sage!" Sonic grinned. "That looked like it hurt him!"

Sage lowered herself to them. "That should weaken him. You now have a chance."

"Then we'll take it from here." Ryuji said. "Justimon… I'm counting on you."

"My strength is yours." the Digimon replied.

Arcadiamon looked down at them and its eyes flashed before shooting a red laser. Everyone stepped aside as it burned into the bridge. Sonic ran up and jumped onto Arcadiamon again as Justimon flew towards it. Tendrils flew at the Digimon who dodged most of them until a wave of tentacles engulfed him. "Vikemon, help him!" Chitose said.

Vikemon took the Morning Star off its back and started spinning it. "Viking Flare!" He flung it at the tentacles splitting them and allowing Justimon to escape while Sonic ran to the top of Arcadiamon and used Sonic Boom on the eye.

Sonic performed a Phantom Rush on Arcadiamon's head and as he looped backwards Justimon reached the head and charged at it with his foot. "Justice Kick!" He attacked alongside Sonic's Loop Kick, and they slammed into Arcadiamon knocking it slightly back. Arcadiamon hissed and green light orbs appeared around it. One by one they flew towards the two. Justimon growled and grabbed Sonic while flying around they as they homed in. One or two hit them while he was flying then he saw an opening and threw Sonic at Arcadiamon who bounced off him. Justimon's Blitz Arm then charged up yellow energy. "Justice Burst!" He fired energy pellets as Sonic sent a wave or Cross Slashes bombarding Arcadiamon before they descended to the ground.

Arcadiamon growled. "DISTOPIA LANCES!" His tentacles spun into the air then came at them from the front as a giant skewer.

"Get back!" Vikemon stepped int front of the team. "Artic Blizzard!" He blew a chilling wind that froze the lance in ice. Then he took his morning star and smashed it to shards. Arcadiamon howled and shot purple energy pellets. Vikemon blocked the first two then the third knocked him down.

"Vikemon!" Chitose turned to his Digimon.

Sonic then noticed Arcadiamon was backing away. "What's he… wait… he wouldn't…" Arcadiamon roared and started charging towards the bridge. "Uh oh." Sage flew in front of them and spread her arms making a barrier around them and flew off carrying everyone as Arcadiamon slammed into the bridge, tearing it down the middle.

It looked at them as they flew away. "GOD MATRIX!"

Sage gasped. "Brace yourselves!" Her barrier glowed brighter before it was destroyed in a blue blast. As everyone started to fall, Vikemon looked down and blew into the sea below them. A pillar of ice rose up and caught the gang.

"Creative." Chitose grinned. Arcadiamon started advancing towards him.

"We need to end this quick." Ryuji said. "Justimon, you and the hedgehog go for the eye. Chitose, Vikemon, give them a path."

Vikemon pointed to the weapons on his shoulders. "Get on." Justimon jumped onto one of them and Sonic leapt to the other. He shot both he spiked balls on chains and the flew forward. Once they reached full length, Sonic and Justimon jumped off. Vikemon blew into the water ahead and a path of ice formed for Sonic to run on. He sped on the icy road. When Arcadiamon shot at him, Vikemon gave the path loops Sonic ran around to rotate around the attacks as he continued. More tendrils then flew at him.

Justimon's right arm transformed into the Cyclone Arm making a red blade extend from it. "Voltage Blade!" He charged in front of Sonic and sliced through the tentacles. A giant red orb flew at them and Justimon dodged as Sonic jumped off the ice track before it was destroyed. Sage held up her hand and cars started floating in front of Sonic. He used his Homing Attack on them one by one making his way towards Arcadiamon.

"Finish him!" Ryuji ordered as they got close.

When Arcadiamon was about to launch another God Matrix, Justimon's right arm then became the massive Accel Arm as Sonic blindsided Arcadiamon with a Homing Shot making it stop the attack. After staggering Arcadiamon noticed Justimon was right above him. "Thunderclap!" He slammed his palm on Arcadiamon's head. A burst of light came out before Arcadiamon was slowly pushed into the ocean.

Sonic fell down towards the far side of the damaged bridge as Arcadiamon fell into the water and exploded in a flash of white. "That's the end of that." Sage brought the others as Justimon joined him.

"Oh, yeah! How'd you like that!" Chitose grinned. "Nothing Hudie can't handle!"

Ryuji smiled at the Digimon. "I forgot how well we worked together."

"I didn't. After all, we're all part of Hudie."

"Yeah."

"Hey… what's that?!" Chitose asked pointing ahead.

Sonic turned around. There was somebody glowing white standing with his back to them. "Wait… I've seen that guy before…" Ryuji muttered.

"Takumi…?" Sonic walked towards the boy. "Is that you?" He touched his hand, and a white flash took over.

The visions showed Takumi and Mirei in the DigiLab watching a Angewomon and a LadyDevimon merging into one entity. "Now, Mastemon, show me this power." The Digimon shot a red and blue light that combined and opened a purple portal. "I opened an entrance to a parallel world with Mastemon's power. You can use it to leap across dimensions. You should find what you seek there."

When Takumi passed through it, he was in a Parallel World. "Wh-whoa!" A girl with green hair dressed in a black coat with black and white shorts ran over to him. "You! You just… appeared out of nowhere! Like with a p-p-p-pop! Whoa, whoa, hey! Is this Magic? A hidden camera?! Where's the camera?! How do I look on the video? Hey! Hey, you! Come on, say something, will ya? What's going on?! Hey hey hey hey!"

"What is with this girl?" Takumi muttered.

"It looks like you've managed to cross between he dimensions without incident."

Takumi looked back towards the hole. "Mirei?"

"I can't go there myself, but I can see you very clearly. That boisterous girl is Rina Shinomiya. Ask her about what you seek. She will surly lead you to it."

Takumi then explained to the girl how he was looking for the aid of a Digimon named UlfrorceVeedramon. Rina in turn asked for his help with defeating Barbramon of the Seven Deadly Digimon so her partner could retrieve his stolen power. Takumi joined them in a distorted space. "Hey there, I'm Veevee. Rina's partner. At your service!"

They made their way to the end of the maze where they wound the bearded Digimon. "Well, what about it? If you work for me, a quarter of the world will-

Rina's eyes sparkled. "Ooh! This is my chance!" She flipped into the air and sucker kicked Babramon in the face. "Vanguard victory! Ultra-courage! On my mark, everybody!"

Babramon grunted. "Hmph! Surprise attacks are hardly fair!" He then fled with Rina hot on his heels.

"Rina, you just… Aw, dag nabbit!" Veevee the Veemon ran after them.

"This world is crazy." Takumi said before joining the fight. After defeating Babramon, Veevee took back his stolen power. And with it he digivolved to Mega. Takumi gasped. "Is that…?"

Veevee grinned at him. "I am UlforceVeedramon. Hehe. Surprised?"

After they finished off Babramon, Takumi explained that he needed Veevee's help in defeating Kentaurosmon. He agreed to help and bid his partner farewell… only to find out she followed Takumi to his world. They then went to EDEN where they confronted Kentaurosmon. "The overwhelming ill will of humanity in cyberspace has eaten away at me directly!"

"You have to take responsibility for your actions! Even I know that! Which means you know less than me, okay?"

Takumi flew on Veevee allowing him to chase Kentaurosmon. The slipstream he made allowed his Digimon to follow. After an intense fight, Veevee cut in front of the Royal Knight. "Let's finish this!" Takumi shouted. Veevee drew a blade and swung. Kentaurosmon tried to block with his shield but was batted back to where Rina was.

"Victory is ours!" Rina cheered. "We did it, Takumi! How do you feel now? Cooler heads reigning?

"Impossible!" Kentaurosmon growled. "To keep up with my speed… Rgh! Go on, then! Do it quickly! Finish me off."

"Finish you? What do you mean? No one's finishing anyone."

Rina then declared she was going to show Kentaurosmon the better side of humanity. The knight reluctantly complied. Then the vision showed Takumi getting a case from Rina. After a… slight runaround he found her in a Digital Shift. "You've finally made it Takumi! I'm so relieved! …Wait, why did I ask you to come out here again? Oh, duh! Of course! I wanted to have a bit of a spar with you and your Digimon!"

After a rough bout with Veevee Takumi emerged victorious. "Man, you're strong… wow. That was a really great fight. I…have nothing left to pass onto you my…student. Now you're…the master. Go, leave me… *cough cough*"

"Sooo… now will you tell me why you wanted to fight me all the sudden?" Takumi asked.

"You still wanna know why I challenged you today? I just wanted to test my strength against you and see who's stronger. That's all! That's what fights are about and what getting stronger is all about too! Comparing yourself to others and seeing who's really better! Well, that's all the time I have for today! I'm gonna go now! Catch you latter!" Takumi watched her walk off, but then she came back. "I see that look on your face. You're wondering what the point of it all is. There is one, but I'm not telling! Mwahahaha!"

The visions ended leaving the group flabbergasted. "That was…something." Sonic muttered.

Chitose cringed. "And I though Erika, Fei and Date were bad examples for Wormmon on how a lady should act. …Don't any of you tell them I said that, I'm too young and pretty to die."

Sonic felt a rumble and took out the Miles Electric. "Takumi… I guess that was a part of his data."

"Part of his data? What's going on here?" Ryuji asked.

Sage opened a gate. "Let us return to Starfall Islands. Then I will explain the rest."

"Wait, what about Yu and Yuugo?"

Sonic turned to Ryuji. "Yuugo? Yuuko's brother?"

"They must be in another part of Cyber Space." Sage asked. "There are others here like Sonic adventuring Cyber Space as we speak. We will find them. But for now, Keisuke and Erika need you." She floated into the gate. Everyone followed her.

Sonic collected his keys as soon as they reappeared in front of the gate. "What is this place?" Ryuji asked as he and Chitose looked around.

"This is Starfall Islands." Sage replied. "Home of the Ancients."

"Ancients?"

"A long-lost race that made the Cyber Space we were in." Justimon replied.

"Huh. So, what was Arcadiamon doing in there?" Chitose asked. "Not to mention the bridge in Odaiba…"

"Cyber Space has been replicating locations and enemies from the pasts of those who integrated with it." Sage replied. "Keisuke included."

"Yo, so did Cyber Space actually interact with my brain?" Sonic asked.

"It was designed to catalogue neural networks, among other things, so yes."

"Sounds a lot like EDEN." Chitose noted.

"Alright, hear me out: do you think all those locations Takumi and I visited were pulled from our memories?" Sonic asked.

"That is possible." Sage replied. "It imported the data of your memories and applied it to your surroundings so you could comprehend them."

"And that gave us the edge we needed to escape each time? We were covering familiar ground? Ha! Go us!" Sonic held up a hand. After a pause Chitose gave him a high five. Sonic then looked up to see a pillar of red light. "Another Chaos Emerald."

"Chaos Emerald?" Chitose looked up at the sky. "Hey… that's what's happening back home! I think that is home up there!"

"Crusadermon used the Chaos Emeralds to bring this world together with your world and the Digital World." Sage explained. "I do not know what she wishes to achieve, but while Sonic and his allies are working to stop it Keisuke and Erika are looking for her now. That is why I brought you here."

"I see." Ryuji replied. "Then let's hurry."

"I'm in." Chitose folded his arms. "We'll look around ourselves for this Crusadermon, you guys do what you need to do."

"Thanks." Sonic replied. "And don't worry, if Yu and Yuuko's brother are in Cyber Space, we'll find them. I'm gonna round up the Emeralds so we can clean up Crusadermon's mess. Which means I'll be jumping in and out of Cyber Space a lot." He was about to run off but remembered something. "Oh, I should also give you two a heads up on something. Arata's here too."

"What!?" Ryuji asked in surprise. "Sanada!?"

"Yeah. And Takumi and I have been chatting with him. We think it's time you guys talked things out. We know what happened to Jude was terrible and divided you, but are you really just going to stay bitter over the past forever? That's not gonna solve anything."

Ryuji sighed. "Well… I have been meaning to talk to him after we rescued Erika. Now that I remember anything, I guess I should get to that…"

"Good, I'll leave you to it then."

"Hey." Just before Sonic could take off, Ryuji called to him. "Thanks for the help. Who are you anyway?"

Sonic grinned. "What you see is what you get! Just a guy that loves adventure! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" He then ran off.

"Heh. Spunky little guy, ain't he." Chitose grinned.

"Alright, let's get to work." Ryuji said. "Erika and Keisuke are around here somewhere. After everything they've done for me, it's time for me to help them."

"Yeah. And once we find them and Yu Hudie will be back together and better than ever!"

Sage smiled at the two of them before she left.

"I'm surprised you're willing to take it this far." Mastemon said.

Mirei sighed and reflected on what Hudiemon said. "Well… as much as I hate to admit it, I am indeed somewhat responsible for this mess. So, I will do what is necessary to resolve it. Now, open the gate."

Mastemon opened two portals. "I do hope they'll comply."

"Of course, they will." Mirei smiled. "One of them is a battle hungry fool and the other has a strong sense of justice. Besides… you and I both know I'm not the only one from another world who feels indebted to the Cyber Sleuth." In the voids the figures of two humans each with a Digimon started to appear.

More Tamers coming to the rescue. But next chapter it'll be Arata's turn to shine. The man's on a mission, to overdrive and overrun the competition. And he won't stop until the battle's won.